Repeating 5th year vs battling it out into 6th?

TheEdgeofGlory

So as the title suggests I'm currently facing a huge dilemma in regards to my education. Without going into a big spiel I'm considered a very academic person and have always enjoyed that aspect of school. The past few years have been difficult for me and I've undergone a lot of turbulence as regards to my education as a result of some issues at school with bullying and moving around etc as a consequence.

Despite this I achieved a good JC last year and skipped TY as I wanted to finish the chapter of school in my life more swiftly and have a strong inclination for what I want to study in college. I'm extremely passionate about medicine and have been for numerous years even more so after overcoming adversities as I love science and the notion of combining it with impacting and improving the quality of human life.

I began 5th year with a very positive attitude and was determined to redeem myself in all aspects. I didn't get all my subject options which I can appreciate happens and is a part of life. However this means I was left with only one science subject ( chemistry) whereas I wanted both chemistry and biology. I began the year with eight subjects (Seven HL)but ended up encountering major issues with some of my teachers and whilst I'm not going to play victim here it caused me a great deal of stress due to the extremely negative interactions I had with them and the actions the teachers took/displayed against me took so I dropped two subjects and ended up having to sit at the back of one of the classes I dropped when I could have been in the Biology class ( it is on at the same time but is full despite me asking school authorities numerous times).

Despite this I have had other issues with the school which have come to a head the last few weeks and I'm not doing particularly well in my subjects across the board in my subjects except for English as I am frankly not putting in enough effort to reach my potential as I am emotionally, mentally,and physically drained every evening and my Christmas results were under-whelming to say the least. I'm quite a perfectionist by nature so it makes me very frustrated and frankly upset.

As a result of not getting all my subjects and dropping two subjects I'm currently only studying 6 subjects ( 5 higher level) in school which I know is putting me at a huge disadvantage. I had an eye to studying Biology by myself over the Summer and throughout sixth year to make up the shortfall but I'm aware that it's an extremely long course, albeit simpler in comparison to a concept heavy subject like Chemistry.

I'm extremely unhappy at my current situation as I wanted to get back on track this year and am quite defensive about not being on the right road to achieving Medicine as in the past certain things preventing me living up to my potential.

I've been discussing these issues with my parents, principal, and year head and the general consensus is that it would be in my best interests to repeat 5th year as I would get my correct subject choice, have a year of prior experience to apply to some subjects, I would get a fresh start to really work from the get go, and I would have enough HL subjects ultimately without having to do extra ones outside of school.

I've never particularly liked the school environment for several reasons but an extra year isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things .

What concerns me is the highly competitive nature of medicine and the unpredictability of the HPAT , thus the likelihood that I might have to end up repeating 6th year despite doing 5th year again. I'm a very dedicated., diligent person and am willing to give it my all but it's quite un-nerving.

My parents are convinced that I won't stand a good chance if I don't repeat at the current rate I'm going and my set up regarding lack of subjects,my motivation levels and mental health and my quite poor grades to date, and are insisting I repeat, no question about that. The last few months have been very overwhelming and stressful and judging by how intensive 6th year is meant to be it seems like the most logical thing to do, but I have my reservations.

I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on things and take responsibility for my actions, but I feel rather disheartened to be in the middle of yet another difficult scenario recently. I don't feel like this academic year has ran smoothly in any way possible.
I do have a knack for overcoming challenging situations so I'm interested to know if anyone thinks I could knuckle down and could I get Medicine without repeating 5th year or whether I need to repeat to get myself together again?
Does anyone have any advice? It would be much appreciated.

EoghanIRL

I didn't read your post because it's too long but from reading the title then I would think it would be better to give the lc a go and repeat the lc instead of repeating 5th year now . You could surprise yourself.

You mention not been able to hack it now . College gets harder, more difficult and the workload increases. You should consider would you able for medicine if you got it . Anatomy, biochem , physiology , pharmacology and clinical practice demand a huge workload and are extremely stressful .

Anyway I think if you want advice your post needs a Tldr. It's just a massive block of text.

dalta5billion

Hi there,

I think you should repeat. It's simply not worth the stress. It's a very common occurrence in my school for people who skipped TY to repeat 5th year. Repeating 5th year will set you up very well for 6th year, and hopefully you can get subjects (and teachers) you prefer.

I did a good JC too, but LC I find a lot more difficult. No one finds the LC easy.

It's impossible to work in a class where you and the teacher *just don't get on* (and don't let anyone tell you otherwise). That happened me for LC and one of my favourite subjects quickly became my "drop" subject.

Repeat 5th would be my advice.

Gallagher1

You don't need to repeat sixth year if the HPAT doesn't go your way. You can just accept a course and re-do the HPAT and hope to get in second time round. Countless people do this every year.

spurious

I would concentrate on your mental health and getting yourself better first. The stress involved in school is not on the same scale as that involved in a medical course, so make sure you're in the best possible shape to do yourself justice when you get your course. I would be quite worried that you have difficulties with a number of teachers and not just one or two.

The LC or Medicine is not going away and you owe it to yourself to give yourself the best possible chance, whether that be in 2 years or 4 years.

Miaireland

If I were you I would repeat fifth year. As some one else said you do not need to repeat the LC if you do not get HPAT the first time round.

Having Biology will be a massive advantage to you in University and it is not an easy course to teach yourself.

TheEdgeofGlory

spurious wrote: »

I would concentrate on your mental health and getting yourself better first. The stress involved in school is not on the same scale as that involved in a medical course, so make sure you're in the best possible shape to do yourself justice when you get your course. I would be quite worried that you have difficulties with a number of teachers and not just one or two.

The LC or Medicine is not going away and you owe it to yourself to give yourself the best possible chance, whether that be in 2 years or 4 years.

I gather you are a teacher/former teacher from posts I've seen in the past. Could you give me a teacher's perspective on the issue i.e academically etc?. Could you elaborate on your point about having problems with teachers as I always strive to get on well with teachers, take on board their comments , and complete what is asked of me. The particular issues that have arisen with a select few are not solely down to my own doings and were not particularly positive experiences.

spurious

Yes, I am a former teacher.

Academically (and I can only go on what you are saying) you sound like you would have no problem getting a good Leaving Cert.. I would worry more about your mental state. You seem to put a lot of stress on yourself - again, only gong by what I read.

You mentioned a number of teachers taking action against you, which as I understand it, ended up with you either dropping subjects or dropping levels(?).
I just wondered what these actions were. It sounds like they were ganging up on you, which would be unusual.

TheEdgeofGlory

spurious wrote: »

Yes, I am a former teacher.

Academically (and I can only go on what you are saying) you sound like you would have no problem getting a good Leaving Cert.. I would worry more about your mental state. You seem to put a lot of stress on yourself - again, only gong by what I read.

You mentioned a number of teachers taking action against you, which as I understand it, ended up with you either dropping subjects or dropping levels(?).
I just wondered what these actions were. It sounds like they were ganging up on you, which would be unusual.

Thanks for the kind remarks and I would be the first to agree I am somewhat of a perfectionist. I suppose I felt I had a duty to redeem myself academically this year as without going into my personal life on a public forum I've had a lot of turbulence and personal issues within the last two years mainly due to school and upheaval as a result which really affected my grades and when things began to crumble yet again it really stressed me out, despite being very resilient. There's also been underlining issues in school which have made things very unpleasant which don't involve academic matters .

I don't know if I should go into specifics as I'm not a resentful person and respect teachers to a large degree as most are helpful and decent towards me but the ones in question made remarks about my lack of ability and progress both in front of the class and through aggressive phone calls home where my test results were compared to others in the class, I was told I was destined to fail, my quiet nature was questioned(apparently being introverted equates to being not able to communicate and "weirdness", my mistakes were always highlighted explicitly and angrily during class, I received threats, eyes were always rolled at me, I was kept back numerous times both after school and class to be told how "****" and inept I am in all capacities, I had a pencil flung at me several times etc. You get the gist. When I defended myself with one particular teacher I was told I had severe attitude problems etc. I ended up dropping two subjects as a result which coupled with not having all your subject choices and wanting to do a high points course is not idea. Others have experienced similar problems with the teachers in question and several have dropped one of the classes I dropped for similar reasons.

uzpuz

Im in 6th year and in 5th year I was doing 12 subjects 4 on my own. Due to the teacher I had to leave history. ....I had trouble with the timing so I left business...then I left applied maths.... I started ag and history in 5th year on my own but a year later I realised there was a project so I had to leave it. Now im down to 9 subjects, im doing biology on my own which I feel is manageable as well as economics.

spurious

@TheEdgeofGlory
If that sort of behaviour is common in your school, I would be getting parents involved. There is no excuse for throwing something at a pupil - was this a teacher?

EoghanIRL

Edge of glory -". The last few months have been very overwhelming and stressful and judging by how intensive 6th year is meant to be it seems like the most logical thing to do, but I have my reservations."

You are right . 6th year will be more stressful . If you then get a medical course it will get worse again .

Your stress is a reoccurring theme here .
Make sure you talk to someone / counselling . You come across as unhappy and self criticizing. These things can accumulate and become very stressful . However it isn't worth putting your lc before your mental well being .

Nadser

I would definitely recommend repeating 5th year, but not in your current school as you haven't had the most positive of experiences there. Move somewhere else and get a fresh start.

I would also say that biology and chemistry are almost essential for medicine. While it may not be a requirement, it will certainly make your first year in college a lot easier. First year university is fairly easy academically, but you can overwhelmed if you have to do a subject from scratch when half your class have done it already. I wouldn't recommend doing a subject by yourself. A lot of people start off with this intention, but they rarely (in my admittedly very small anecdotal experience) end up sitting the exam.

Best of luck with your decision and your future where ever it may take you.